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Santa Teresa teacher suggested El Paso team's Chihuahuas name

By Lindsey Anderson

landerson@lcsun-news.com @l_m_anderson on Twitter

Posted:
10/24/2013 04:48:39 PM MDT

Santa Teresa High School junior Britani Gonzales, 17, gives a congratulatory hug to math teacher Shae Vierra on Thursday in the hallway of the school. Vierra entered the El Paso Triple-A Name the Team contest and his suggestion, the El Paso Chihuahuas, was selected from more than 5,000 entries as the official name for the baseball team. "I think that's really cool that he won," Gonzales said. (Shari V. Hill — Sun-News)

The Santa Teresa High School football coach shut down his Facebook account after the slew of strangers' messages poured in, some copying photos of him and his family and posting them elsewhere online. Some messages are low-level insults, calling him an embarrassment to the region; others encourage much more violent actions.

"I thought it was a good name because it's bicultural and we live in the Chihuahuan Desert," he says Thursday at the school. "And I have three kids. I thought they'd like the name."

Vierra scrolls through screenshot after screenshot of hate mail, reading the hateful messages with a laugh.

"I'm the head coach of a 1-6 football team, so I know what criticism's like," he says.

Chihuahua wasn't even Vierra's top choice of the three names he submitted: Chihuahuas, Smokestacks for the Asarco towers and Oryx, his favorite.

More than 5,000 names were submitted to the Name the Team contest.

But the tiny, scrappy dogs won out.

Moniker madness

Minor league baseball is no stranger to unique and sometimes downright bizarre names.

There's the Albuquerque Isotopes for one, originating from an episode of "The Simpsons." Then there's the Nashville Sounds and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, not to mention the not-so-awe-inspiring oddities in Double A baseball, from the Montgomery Biscuits to the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

The El Paso Chihuahuas, which is the new official team name for the Triple-A baseball team, was selected after officials opened up a public voting contest that Santa Teresa math teacher Shae Vierra entered and won. Vierra will have the honor of throwing out the first pitch during the first home game of the season, he said. (Courtesy photo)

The El Paso mascot -- a snarling dog with a spiked collar -- has gained the attention of ESPN, blogs and social media.

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